Stanwood tightened its grip on first place in the Wesco 3A North volleyball standings by blanking Oak Harbor 3-0 Thursday, Oct. 11, on the Wildcats’ court.

The Spartans (5-0, 8-3) won 25-10, 25-22, 25-21 and denied Oak Harbor (3-2, 5-6) a chance to move into a tie for the divisional lead.

The Wildcats, wearing pink uniforms in honor of breast cancer awareness, jumped to a 6-4 lead in the first game. Stanwood rattled off a 14-0 run to seal the win. During that stretch Oak Harbor’s offense disappeared behind poor passing and off-target sets. When shots were available, the ‘Cats tipped ineffectively or hit into blocks. The Spartans, meanwhile, recorded nine kills during the run.

Oak Harbor bounced back. Down 10-6 in the second set, it eventually took leads of 17-16 and 21-20 before the Spartans rallied late.

Stanwood went ahead early in the third set, holding leads of three to five points until Oak Harbor cut it to 22-20. The Wildcats could get no closer and the Spartans completed the sweep.

Oak Harbor coach Kerri Molitor was disappointed in her defense which didn’t make adjustments on the court and didn’t “react to the game.”

She said her team “made too many errors” in contrast to Stanwood, which is “a solid team” and doesn’t many mistakes.

Taylor Nienhuis had 20 assists and Roshel Muzzall eight kills to lead Oak Harbor.

The Wildcats go to the Anacortes Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday and then travel to Everett (2-2, 5-5) for a critical Wesco match at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16.